


Jesus Christ, A Doctor

by Panda_Birds



Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn
Genre: Cordelia is a mess, F/F, First Date, First Meeting, Fluff, Modern AU, New Relationship, i love the lesbians sm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:22:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24756976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Panda_Birds/pseuds/Panda_Birds
Summary: How Charlotte and Cordelia first met
Relationships: Dr. Charlotte/Cordelia (Falsettos)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 31





	Jesus Christ, A Doctor

**Author's Note:**

> I decided that the lesbians needed their own stand-alone fic w just them bc they deserve it, I love them so much. I hope you guys like this!! Also, I thought I was being so original in this idea when I thought of it but it turns out a lot of people (on my twitter, at least) think they met this way sljfsdlf  
> Please leave a comment!

Cordelia loved her stove. Unfortunately, her stove did not love her. Neither did her knives, her oven, her cutlery drawers, or maybe even her food itself. Cursing quietly to herself, she rushed to the emergency room for the 3rd time that month, nursing a nasty burn on her arm and trying to hold it on the subway in such a way that it didn’t graze against anything. (She failed).

“Sit down and fill up this form, we’ll call you,” said the bored-looking receptionist, holding out a clipboard. Cordelia sat down and fumbled around with the pen, trying to write while also not agitating her burn. Her handwriting, as a result, was a little messy, but hey- doctors are used to that, right?

She sat there, gritting her teeth through the pain, thinking if she should just invest in some sort of aloe vera plant that she could chop up and use for whenever something like this happened, to save herself the trip to the doctor... She would need a _lot_ of aloe vera plants.

Finally, her name was called. She rushed into the room, and found herself looking straight into the eyes of-

-The _prettiest_ woman she’d ever seen.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Charlotte,” smiled Prettiest Woman She’d Ever Seen. “So, you burned yourself on the stove, huh? Let’s take a look.”

Cordelia silently stuck out her arm and let the doctor do her work. She left the ER about 20 minutes later, bandaged up with a soft, cheery reminder to be more careful. A completely normal visit to the hospital, entirely uneventful. The doctor wasn't even that chatty.

Later that night when Cordelia fell asleep, she dreamed of pretty doctors, with pretty smiles and hands that seemed so soft even through gloves.

Two weeks later, she was at the hospital again, having gotten food poisoning from using slightly rotten produce in her latest recipe (hey, the expiry date stamp showed _the next day,_ okay, it wasn’t her fault! …This time..) She was sitting in the examination room, a nurse having already taken her blood test. The door opened and-

It was _not_ Pretty Doctor. (Cordelia had already forgotten her name by this point… she was just Pretty Doctor. Sometimes it was Doctor Most Beautiful Woman in the World, or Doctor Gorgeous Smile, but Pretty Doctor was just a lot easier to say, and much cuter).

_This_ doctor was a man, and there was nothing wrong with him, he seemed perfectly nice and competent. He quickly told Cordelia exactly what had gone wrong and wrote out a prescription for her, another perfectly normal doctor's visit, and yet so completely opposite to the previous one. All the while she struggled to hide her disappointment that she didn’t get to meet Pretty Doctor again.

When she was curled up in her bed later, willing the medicine to work so that she'd stop throwing up, she found herself thinking about Pretty Doctor. She had been so nice, so efficient, she’d had the brightest smile… but what was she thinking? There had to be over a hundred doctors at that hospital, what were the odds that she’d ever run into Pretty Doctor again? And if she did, then what? Like they’d just immediately get married after that- for all she knew, Pretty Doctor could be straight with a nice boyfriend somewhere who definitely wouldn’t appreciate her as much as Cordelia would. Besides, she thought sadly, clutching a pillow close to her chest, doctors saved _lives_ and Cordelia was here trying to save chicken fat and then getting food poisoning from it. Who the fuck said Pretty Doctor would be into her anyway?

Regardless, over the next month, Cordelia somehow found herself going to the hospital even more than usual. And no, she wasn’t doing it deliberately. She just really happened to need several more regular check-ups suddenly, and better safe than sorry right? That slight cough _could_ just be her pollen allergies acting up, but who knows, right? And of course, if any of her friends needed to go to the doctor for whatever reason, what was she going to do, _not_ go along to be there for them as moral support? What sort of friend would that make her? How dare anyone even question her like this.

A part of her knew she was being irrational. She was wasting time, her own and the hospital's, over something that was most likely to end up nowhere. Another part of her didn't care, and told her to just go for it, to be reckless and hopelessly romantic like this was some cheesy Hallmark movie. So she listened to that part, because it was brighter and more alluring and told her that when she had a fancy doctor girlfriend they could bake cookies together and decorate them to look like stethoscopes.

Sadly, it was all in vain. Four more trips to the hospital and she still had yet to encounter her doctor again (yeah, it was _her_ doctor now. Truth be told, a little part of her was scared of how much she was romanticizing all this, and she was a little afraid that if she did meet Pretty Doctor again then reality wouldn’t live up to her imagination and she’d be left with nothing but bitter disappointment… but she would cross that bridge- or sink despairingly under it- when she came to it). She was starting to lose hope. There were endless possibilities- Pretty Doctor could’ve moved to another hospital, she could’ve fallen sick herself, she could’ve quit being a doctor to pursue a career in yodeling in the Scottish countryside. Endless possibilities.

She was starting to come to terms with the fact that she was being ridiculous, and should probably give it up before her insurance thought something was suspicious and called her up to make her go through endless paperwork. The part of her that was insisting that she was being ridiculous was growing louder and louder, drowning out the faint whispers of stethoscope cookies. So she stopped all the pointless hospital visits, and took extra care in her cooking to make sure she didn't genuinely have to go either. Pretty Doctor slowly started to fade from her dreams, and in another two months, Cordelia barely remembered her, and life went on as normal. You can't miss what you never had, you can't lose what was never yours in the first place. 

A very, very tiny part of Cordelia, deep down inside her heart, still felt like she'd lost.

***

Cordelia huffed impatiently in the waiting area outside the radiologist’s office. For the past hour she’d been scrolling aimlessly through Instagram, periodically closing the app and then reopening it ten seconds later. Her friend Jenna had begged Cordelia to come with her for her breast cancer check-up, and Cordelia had agreed because she was a good friend, although she was currently thinking of all the other ways in which she could have been a good friend that didn’t involve having to wait for hours.

They’d come to the same hospital that Cordelia had haunted nearly a year ago, so she knew the place pretty well by now. For instance, she knew there was a vending machine on the floor below them, and the delicious treats it held were starting to get very tempting at the moment.

Figuring that even if Jenna came out right the next second that she could wait for 5 minutes (what was five minutes to the 300 that had surely passed since they'd first gotten here, after all), Cordelia went to the vending machine, already thinking about what she should get.

Ten minutes later, Cordelia was trying to make her way back to her seat with a purse stuffed full of Snickers bars, while trying to open and eat one at the same time, when she crashed directly into someone. They both fell to the ground, and suddenly Cordelia found herself in a sea of chocolate bars and papers.

“Oh fuck, I’m _so_ sorry,” she gasped, horrified. She immediately began picking the papers up, trying to be careful not to fold or tear them. She was glad she hadn’t been able to open that candy wrapper after all, the last thing she needed at the moment were chocolatey fingers to add to her embarrassment.

“No, it’s fine, I’ll get them”, said a voice, sounding resigned and exhausted. Cordelia, having gathered up a bunch of the papers, looked up at the doctor to hand them over and-

It was _her._

It had been _months,_ but how could she forget that face? That face that had filled her sweetest dreams for weeks, that had seemed to follow her wherever she went but was always out of sight?

After all this time, Cordelia had _finally_ found Pretty Doctor again. She’d given up, she'd stopped thinking about her, but instantly recognised her. Pretty Doctor, it seemed, did not. She simply reached out wordlessly and took the papers from Cordelia, gave a vague nod and headed off in the direction of the examination room. Cordelia was too stunned to say anything, and by the time she’d gotten back to her senses Pretty Doctor had already gone inside and closed the door. Cordelia gathered up her chocolate and slowly made her way back to her seat, thinking about what she should do.

She was determined that this time, she wasn’t going to let Pretty Doctor slip through her fingers. But what was she going to say? _Hi, you clearly don't remember me, but you treated me once for a minor burn months ago and I literally did not stop thinking about you for weeks, marry me?_ No, she was going to have to be more subtle. Clearly she was Jenna's doctor, but that didn't necessarily give her any sort of _in_ to talk to her. Cordelia unwrapped a chocolate bar and slowly began munching on it while she thought of what she was going to say.

Another fifteen minutes later, the door to the examination room opened again and Jenna stepped out.

“Thank you so much,” she was saying, looking behind her, Sure enough, Pretty Doctor followed her out, nodding along.

“Hey, Delia! Sorry it took so long,” Jenna said apologetically as she walked over to Cordelia. “Thank you so, so much for waiting.”

“Oh, so this is your friend? We ran into each other in the hallway,” said Pretty Doctor, raising an eyebrow at Cordelia, but she was smiling slightly so clearly she wasn't too put off by the encounter.

Cordelia gave a nervous laugh. “Hi, I’m Cordelia, and yeah, I’m Jenna’s friend,” she said, as the three of them started to walk to the reception desk.

“I’m Dr. Charlotte Dubois,” said Pretty Doctor. “You’re a good friend for waiting so long! It’s been what, 2 hours?”

Cordelia let out a nervous laugh again. Jenna had finished up at reception by now, and was ready to leave.

“Take care, hon,” smiled Pretty Doctor- no, _Doctor Charlotte._ “And I hope you haven’t eaten all that chocolate already, take it slow, ’k?” She winked.

“B-bye,” Cordelia stammered, as the doctor turned back towards the examination room, the nurse already holding another patient file.

As Cordelia started to drive them home, she suddenly felt Jenna looking at her.

“What?” she asked, noticing Jenna’s wide grin.

“She’s a friend of mine, I’ve known her for years. I’ve already texted you her number, I don’t know what all that was about chocolate, but I _do_ know the face you make when you have a crush. Just don’t mess this up, ok? She’s the best radiologist around.”

***

“ _Five times in one month??”_

Cordelia nodded vigorously, laughing, red in the face from both embarrassment and wine. “Yes!! God, that receptionist must’ve thought I was running the most dangerous catering agency in the world!”

Charlotte laughed, trying to stifle it behind her hand so they wouldn’t disrupt the other diners in this _very_ fancy restaurant that Charlotte had brought her to for their first date. It had been a few weeks since they’d met at the hospital, and Cordelia had started texting Charlotte right that evening, but Charlotte’s busy schedule hadn’t given them much time to actually go out. So, by way of apology, Charlotte had managed to get a reservation at this nice, high-end place, and they were both having an amazing time.

Conversation was so _easy_ with Charlotte. It had been so much fun texting and FaceTiming her, and it was even more fun to talk to her in real life, face-to-face, even with the barrier of social convention in a fine-dining situation requiring them to be civil and not too loud.

Charlotte was _fun._ She was insanely smart, had a brilliant and surprisingly wicked sense of humour, and Cordelia was already starting to fall for her. She couldn’t even remember why she’d started to tell Charlotte about her fruitless efforts to meet her at the hospital again, but now they were both laughing at Cordelia’s ridiculousness and her heart was feeling so full and yet so incredibly light.

“I was covering a shift at the clinic for a friend of mine that day,” explained Charlotte, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. “That’s why you never saw me again, I’m so sorry you went to all that trouble, you poor thing.”

“Ohh… that explains a lot,” said Cordelia. “I didn’t even remember your name to ask for you or anything. I recognised you instantly when we ran into each other, though.”

“I’m glad you did, because I certainly didn’t. And if you hadn’t recognised me, I don’t think we’d be here.”

“Oh no, if that had been the first time I’d seen you I still would’ve immediately gotten a crush on you, and Jenny would’ve still given me your number and told me not to fuck things up because you’re the only radiologist she trusts.”

"Oh that's true, I immediately texted Jenna to ask about her cute friend too."

"Aww, you thought I was cute?" Cordelia teased

"Yes, and somehow I decided _not_ to crash your possible place of work several times in an attempt to find you." Charlotte shot back.

"I'll be honest, if Jenna hadn't known you, I probably would've done that all over again," admitted Cordelia.

Charlotte’s grin widened. She poured out some more wine for both of them, and raised her glass. “To Jenna, then.”

Cordelia giggled. “To Jenna!”

When dinner was over, they both stood on the pavement outside the restaurant. Charlotte was fiddling with her phone, and Cordelia was looking at her, thinking how beautiful she looked with all the street lights flickering across her face. Charlotte looked up, suddenly, and smiled softly as she noticed Cordelia staring.

She stepped forward, raising a hand to cup Cordelia’s face, and kissed her.

It wasn’t a chaste kiss, but it wasn’t too messy or raunchy either. It was warm, deep, and comfortable. Cordelia slid her hand to the back of Charlotte’s neck, her fingertips gently grazing through Charlotte’s hair as they pulled each other closer. It was so familiar somehow, as if they’d been kissing for years. They fit so well together, Charlotte's other arm tight around Cordelia's waist. She'd had something with garlic in it, but Cordelia loved the taste of her anyway. She was _perfect._

“You know”, said Charlotte softly as she pulled away. “I have the day off tomorrow.”

Cordelia smiled, pulling out her phone to call an uber. “And I,” she said, setting the destination to her address, “have a rather large bed.” Charlotte’s smile widened, her hand dropping to clasp Cordelia’s.

Neither of them let go the entire car ride home.

**Author's Note:**

> I need to say this again: I love them.


End file.
